African vs Cape Buffalo: What’s the Difference, Really?

Spend a little time around safari chatter and you’ll hear people use the words African buffalo and Cape buffalo like they mean the same thing. It’s an easy mix-up – after all, they look pretty similar, they’re both part of Africa’s famous Big Five, and they both have that same “don’t mess with me” stare. But there is a difference.

Let’s start with the basics. The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is the umbrella species – the big picture term. Within that species, there are a few recognised subspecies found across the continent. The Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer caffer) is just one of them. It’s the largest, most common, and the one most people think of when they picture a buffalo charging through the bush. So when you hear someone say “African buffalo,” they might be referring to any of the continent’s buffalo types. But when they say “Cape buffalo,” they’re talking about a very specific one – the southern heavyweight.

Cape buffalo are the ones you’ll see in southern and East Africa: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Kenya. They’re large, muscular, and dark in colour, often almost black, with thick, curved horns that meet in the middle of their heads to form that solid “boss”. They tend to move in large herds, sometimes hundreds strong, and are known for their unpredictable, stand-your-ground attitude. That’s what earned them their reputation and their place among the Big Five.

Head further north or into central and western Africa, and you’ll meet the Cape buffalo’s smaller cousins. The forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus), for instance, lives in the dense rainforests of Central and West Africa. It’s reddish-brown, smaller, and far more secretive than the Cape buffalo. Instead of wide open grasslands, it moves quietly through the undergrowth, more shy than showy. There are also a couple of intermediate subspecies, like the Sudan buffalo and Nile buffalo, which have traits that sit somewhere between the forest and Cape types, depending on where they live.

So, to sum it up simply:

• The African buffalo is the species as a whole.

• The Cape buffalo is one subspecies – the biggest, darkest, and most widely seen on safari in southern Africa.

• The forest buffalo and others are smaller, redder, and adapted to different environments further north in Africa.

Every Cape buffalo is an African buffalo, but not every African buffalo is a Cape buffalo.

And what about water buffalo? You can read more about how they differ from the African buffalo here.